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How We Support Our Church Websites

06 September 2018 15:58

One of the main questions that we're asked by a church prior to applying for a Church Pages website is "What support will we receive after our website goes live?". This is a reasonable enough question, particularly as choosing a new website provider can be very daunting for a church. After all there's no point in having a new website if it can't be simply edited because a website that is out of date is not much use to your web visitor.

The internet is now the primary source of information in the UK. The Office for National Statistics report on Internet access, published last month, identified 9 out of 10 households as having access to the internet, with 89% of adults going online weekly. However, smartphones are still the most popular device by which adults access the internet, with 78% of adults listing this as their preferred choice of access. And with almost 8 out of 10 adults accessing information "on the go" the need for a website to be able to deliver relevant information is paramount.

Right at the start of the Church Pages Initiative we recognised that with the growth of the internet it was essential for churches to have a mobile friendly website that was easy to navigate. And we didn't want keeping a website up-to-date to be a stumbling block for churches wanting to use the Church Pages' software. It was of utmost importance to us to have things in place to help churches keep their sites current and easy to navigate. After all we believe that a church website is an excellent vehicle by which the community can be reached with the good news of the Gospel.

How does the Church Pages Initiative support its users?

1. Initial design

The first way in which we support our Church Pages' customers is through the initial design of the website. One of the reasons that we created templates for churches to choose from was because we wanted the sites to be easy to maintain. Naturally we can build bespoke sites that can be edited, and some of our churches have chosen these, but primarily we wanted the design of the site to be easy to change by a click.

The templates were created so that they looked professionally designed, worked responsively, and were easy to navigate. Presets are created so that when a site's administrator wants to add something new to their site e.g. a folder, page, or news item they simply choose a preset and their folder, page or news item looks identical to those that have already been made. All the administrator has to do is fill in the copy and drag in new images, and click save.

So when the Church Pages website is signed off by us we ensure that it looks great and can be easily edited by our clients.

2. Training

Naturally we give training to our clients. However, if you can use Word, or send an email, you can edit a Church Pages website! Our main trainer (who happens to be me!) is probably the least computer savvy person that you can imagine. When I took my degree (many years ago) all my fellow students were using Excel to do their dissertations, but I had taped together pages of A1 to write up my results on, and then I analysed these! My fear of computers and software continued for many years, but editing the Church Pages website is so easy. If I can do it, so can you. And as a qualified trainer you can rest assured that we will make learning how to edit your website as easy as possible.

3. Support Pages

Logging into the administration area of a software platform can be daunting, but our Support Pages will walk you through the admin area, and help you to understand all aspects of your website. The Support Pages have been written to help you to understand the admin area of your website and learn how to edit pages, add sermons, create news items, and publish pages. We are constantly adding to these and refining content so please contact us if you think that we have missed something!

4. Support videos

You will also find support videos embedded within the Support Pages, but again we hope to keep adding to these as time allows.

5. Email and phone support

Once a Church Pages' website goes live we like to think that our relationship with our churches is not over. We will of course respond to emails, and we are always at the end of the phone if there is a question that our training and Support Pages haven't covered. We also take a cheeky look at our sites regularly and if we see that there is anything awry then we will quickly make sure the site looks beautiful. And we are here to give advice if a church is not sure how to display their content best, or want to add in more sign up forms etc.

Finding the right website provider for your church's website can be daunting, particularly if you are concerned about support once your site is live. The reason the Church Pages Initiative was set up was to equip churches to reach the next generation by providing mobile-friendly websites. We want to support churches as much as possible so that they can reach this generation, and so providing the best support is important to us.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like us to help you redesign your church's website so that it not only works on all devices, but is relevant to today's generation. In the words of David Girard, the Yourh Pastor at Holy Trinty Church, Guernsey:

"The Church Pages content management system is set up in a really intuitive way and makes it very easy to learn how to manage your site even if you're complete beginners. Highly recommended!"

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

 


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